Strangely Familiar Love

CHAPTER 2. KISS AND RUN

After running away from a pervert stranger who chased her in the alley, Zannah was suddenly in the arms of another stranger, but a handsome one.

As the man covered the two of them with Zannah's umbrella, she lost her pursuer and the handsome guy lost the throng of girls who were chasing him.

And then she felt something soft on her lips. He was kissing her! He was gentle. She was frozen on the spot. She could not process what was going on. His hand that was on her shoulder slid to her nape while the other held her waist.

“This feels… new but nice,” Zannah thought. It was her first kiss and even with a complete stranger but it felt surprisingly good.

Zannah closed her eyes. Her lips betrayed her by kissing him back. She was surprised by her own reaction. It was like she was on auto mode.

The kiss went on some more and Zannah felt her heart beat wilder. He kept kissing her. He felt that it was magical and comforting… and addicting.

“Hey, get a room!” someone shouted furiously.

With that, both Zannah and the stranger were startled that they broke the kiss. The stranger was so startled that he hugged Zannah tighter. Zannah, on the other hand, was brought to her own senses. She pushed him away with all her remaining strength and then ran towards the coffee shop. She didn’t look back and was oblivious of the light rain falling on her and of the people in the alley who stared at her.

“Wait! Stop,” she heard him yell in his baritone voice that sent tingling sensations to her spine.

Mr. Handsome kept running after Zannah because he felt that he had to talk to her about what happened and he wanted to apologize for startling her.

Zannah can hear him running after her and he was closely gaining on her. She ran as fast as she could through the light rain. She didn’t care if she got wet. She just wanted to run away from him. But no matter how fast she tried to run, he seemed to be gaining on her faster than she expected. With his long legs, he could easily catch up with her.

“Let’s talk, please!” Zannah heard him shout, and once again, his baritone voice sent chills down her spine. Ignoring him, she kept going and soon she saw the coffee shop a few meters ahead. She was relieved to see the coffee shop and Lily was outside, wiping the windows.

Lily smiled and said, “Hello, Zannah! Wait, you look like you’d been running in the rain. I thought you always brought your umbrella with you.”

But Zannah just walked past her, leaving her dumbfounded because Zannah never ignored her greeting before. She sensed that something must be up with her boss-friend. She was still deep in thought about what just happened when a few seconds later, Lily saw a handsome, tall guy come running towards the café.

“This man must have popped out from a fashion magazine,” she told herself. “Or he must have run away from filming a commercial.”

“Please, let’s talk,” he begged as he followed Zannah inside the coffee shop. He closed the umbrella he was holding and left it by the door before entering the café.

Lily was double shocked. “Could this handsome guy be her boss friend's boyfriend?” she wondered with excitement.

“Hi handsome,” she greeted but she was ignored as well. He did not even look at her as if she were invisible.

“Oh gosh,” she gasped. “Am I dead? Why can’t they see me,” she thought. She pinched her arm.

"Ouch," she muttered when she felt the pain so she was convinced that she was still alive.

She looked at the black umbrella and noticed the embroidered red “XZ” at the edge. “It’s Zannah’s umbrella, alright,” she thought. But what puzzled her was the super handsome guy. Zannah was her boss in the coffee shop but they were close friends since they went abroad for the training on coffee shop management. She never mentioned a suitor before but now she seemed to have a boyfriend. The thought that her friend kept a huge secret hurt her.

“Hmm… maybe she has a good reason for keeping Mr. Super Handsome from me,” she told herself. They must have had a lovers’ quarrel. That was too much to process but she decided to find out more about it.

When Mr. Super Handsome guy passed by, Lily wondered where he saw him. He really seemed so familiar but she couldn’t remember where he must have seen him. She followed them into the café still puzzled. She went to the counter and the radio played the next song which seemed to have lighted the flashbulb in her head.

“Wait… No way…” she murmured as she paced the floor.

“Could it be…?” she mused. She was thinking that Mr. Super Handsome might be a member of her favorite boy group, XZcellent, also known as ‘XZ’.

“Hmm… maybe the ‘XZ’ on the umbrella stands for the boy group’s name,” she wondered.

Lily was so curious about the stranger who followed her boss to her office. She sat on a chair while debating whether or not to go to the office to see what was happening. Finally, she stood up and promised herself that she would just take a peek and leave.

As Lily was walking the short distance from the dining area to the office, she wondered what was going on. It was so quiet. She was hoping to see a glimpse of Mr. Super Handsome so she could decide if he really looked like any of the members XZcellent. She expected the “couple” to be arguing or something but she couldn’t hear voices. This added more to her overflowing curiosity. When she reached the office, the door was slightly ajar. She peeped through the door and was surprised at what she saw.

Mr. Super Handsome knelt on the floor in front of Zannah, who was seated on the couch. His head was down and both arms were raised in repentance, while Zannah had her head bowed and one hand was on her forehead like she was having a massive headache or was crying. She didn’t even take her coat off. Zannah opened her eyes and she was clearly annoyed at what she saw.

“What are you doing now?” asked Zannah, who sounded confused and annoyed while she lifted her head to look at the stranger in front of her. “Get up and just go away,” she said in an irritated voice.

“I am truly sorry. Please believe me. I won’t move an inch until you listen to me and forgive me,” came the sexy and low-pitched voice of this really attractive guy.

Lily, who was watching, then recovered from being shocked at what she saw and she smiled. “They really must have had a lovers’ quarrel,” she thought. But Mr. Super Handsome was cute and looked sincere when he was talking to Zannah. Zannah stood from the couch and walked to the window and opened it. A strong gust of cold wind blew into the office and shut the door.

With that, Lily got startled and left hurriedly. She jogged to the counter and was startled when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She received a text message from Zannah: “Lily, could you please bring us two cappuccinos? Thanks!”

Lily composed a reply: “Got it. Are you okay?” but soon deleted the last sentence before pressing "send.". She then went on to prepare the coffee.

In the office, Zannah paced back and forth, then looked at the man who knelt on the floor. His arms were still extended upwards as a sign of repentance. He looked so cute as he looked at her with pleading eyes. She looked out the open window and wondered what to do. She debated whether to listen to his explanation or just threaten him that she would call the police if he didn't leave.

She was deep in thought when she heard someone sniff and there were muffled cries. She glanced at the man and was astonished. He was crying! The big hunk seemed to have transformed into a cute little boy, who was crying silently. He just kept crying silently as his tears rolled down his cheeks like rain flowing down a window. She couldn’t believe what she saw.

Zannah’s heart softened at what she saw. He was really crying. Instinct made her stand and walk to the stranger who was crying in front of her. She patted his shoulder and reached for one of his hands so she could lead him to the couch.

“Okay, that’s enough. Stand up now. Come on and sit on the couch,” she said calmly. She helped him stand and guided him to sit on the couch. She went to her table and took the box of tissues, and then she sat down beside him. As she sat near him, her heart pounded in her chest.